Monday, May 17, 2010

Caterpillar NYSE: CAT), Alcoa (NYSE: AA) and Manufacturing News in New York

Activity for New York manufacturing plunged in May, signifying there could be more challenges ahead for companies like Caterpillar NYSE: CAT) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA).

The general business conditions index from the New York Federal Reserve dropped from 31.86 in April to 19.11 in May. This is huge miss from analysts' estimates, who were look for 30.00 for the month.

New orders were also done by a lot, dropping from 29.49 in April to 14.30 in May.

No matter how this is spun, this is a disaster, and probably comes from the uncertainty related to the EU debt crisis and the inflation challenges in China, which threatens the demand for raw materials and equipment.